Dues Referendum 2014

As I write this, the final layout for the winter issue of EQ is on it’s way to the printers, and you should be seeing it in your inboxes and mailboxes (where those continue to exist) within a few weeks.

We’ve been talking about the upcoming dues referendum for a while now, and this issue of EQ will feature a special wraparound supplement on the topic. Even if your habit is (as is mine) that the magazine goes onto the breakfast table for reading in the next week or three, Council strongly encourages you to have a look at the referendum section as soon as you get it. We want you to be able to make an informed decision, which means we also want you to be able to read the material, ponder it, and still have the time to ask questions if you need more details.

To assist in getting you the info you need, Council will be holding a series of in-person meetings across the country in January and February, with the last of them being webcast, so that people can participate from wherever they are. We may also add some online forum sessions as needed, closer to the vote deadline.

All life and regular members in good standing will be receiving a voter kit early in the new year, and online and phone voting will open on February 3. Members not currently in good standing have until February 13 to rectify that, in order to be able to participate. Voting closes on February 20. You can find the whole timeline of voting and member meetings on the back of the EQ supplement.

I gotta tell you something – Council absolutely hates having to ask the members for a dues increase. But, after 14 years without one, we don’t have a choice.

You, however, do. When you exercise it, we hope that you choose to say “yes”, so that Equity can continue to work on your behalf, and to improve what we are able to do for you. It’s your association – please support Equity, so Equity can support you.

Equity RRSPs - a comparison

A few weeks back, I was buttonholed by a friend who wanted to know why her Equity RRSP returns were so "lousy" compared to another industry RRSP she held. The question took me by surprise, since our RRSP committee reviews fund performance every year against similar funds on the market, and then reports their findings to Council. I can only remember one occasion when the committee had anything bad to say, and that only about a single fund some time ago. (The fund has long since been replaced.)

Anyhow, the whole discussion got me thinking. How do our RRSP funds stack up against those on offer by our sister organisations? Quite nicely, as it turns out. Time for another chart.

Funds comparison, 3rd quarter, 2013

These results are from the most recent quarter, as provided in member reports. Note that some funds have not been around for 10 years, hence the missing grey bars on the right.

Looking at our slate of conservative, moderate, balanced, advanced and aggressive funds, it's interesting to see that they perform exactly as one might expect. Conservative and moderate (medium red, green) have some variation over time, but pretty much chug along year after year with fairly consistent results: low volatility, with decent (if modest) returns.

The balanced fund (purple) has a little bit more swing to it over time, but comes out well in the long term. This is our default fund, and accounts for about 82% of all retirement assets, with 75% of participants holding this fund.

The advanced, aggressive and global equity funds (light blue, orange, medium blue) certainly do very well when they do well, but they are also higher risk investments and have much more volatility. The chart above doesn't show annual data, but the down years for these funds tend to be just as pronounced as their up years. As a result, they still end up in the same ballpark as all the others over the long term. Depending on when you buy in, a member could do pretty well. Or not. If only one could know in advance when these were going to skyrocket and dip…

Ethics (deep red) also bounces around a bit, but has still performed well over time. The lowly money market fund (short, dark blue) is not really an investment fund as such, and is only included here for completeness. It can be useful in circumstances when stability is critical.

All told, we have 8 different funds so that members at various ages and stages of their career can put together the investment mix best suited to them. Members contribute from every pay cheque, and have the ability to make additional contributions as well.

RRSP season is all year round for Equity members, so if you have questions about where your money is being held, and whether it is the right mix for you, your "retirement" horizon (I use the word loosely) and your risk tolerance, give Great West Life a call and talk to an investment advisor. They can, well, advise you. If you already did that some years ago, don't forget to do it periodically to keep up to date. Maybe do it now before the February RRSP crunch hits.

And of course, the all-important disclaimer: past performance is no guarantee of future results, etc.

Did you know? - how we came to be known as "Equity"?

I was reading through Performance of the Century, by Robert Simonson, about the first 100 years of American Equity, and found the following, describing the genesis of AEA.

In desperation, a few actors decided to give the organization another chance. On January 13, 1913 – less than a month after the death of the Actors' Society of America, which had tried unsuccessfully for sixteen years to negotiate with the producers – William Harcourt, Charles D. Coburn, Arthur Byron, Milton Sills and Frank Gillmore gathered […] to decide "upon a uniform form of contract that would be alike acceptable to the fair-minded engager and the fair-minded actor."

And from a subsequent meeting on February 4…

William Courtleigh, a Canadian-born actor […] deserves a place in [the union's] history for suggesting "Equity" as a name. The motion was unanimously carried.

Well, whaddaya know?! 

Preliminary results on CTA Level 1 / Level 2 review

At the Ontario RAGM on September 9, Executive Director Arden R. Ryshpan presented figures on her staff review of how the new two-level contract system is working so far.

Because the new two-level provisions in the CTA only took effect at the beginning of this calendar year, we have only six months of data to go on. Also, a good portion of recent contracts were offered under the old scheme. So, the results are preliminary, but they are positive. Staff will revise the report early in the new year, once a full 12-month cycle of contracts has concluded.

Arden has posted the results, along with an update on the two new independent theatre agreements, in her online journal.

Did you know? - Input into negotiations

Equity manages a wide range of scale agreements and engagement policies on behalf of its members. In order to ensure that the terms of engagement continue to reflect current realities in the business, each of these is reviewed on a cyclical basis, typically a three year term. In most cases, the review is done through negotiation with an engager, or a group of engagers (such as PACT). For the remainder, the review is done internally.

In all cases, the review is done with member input.

MEMBER:              How do I get involved in that?
COUNCILLOR:       Like this. (music of revelation)

There are several ways to have input into both negotiation and agreement review. 

The first is by far the easiest: make your Deputy do it. At the end of every engagement, the Deputy submits a release acknowledging that all artists have been paid, and everything is a "go" for release of the security bond. On the back of that form is space for notes for upcoming negotiation or review. So, when you are in the middle of an engagement and something arises that you think would be a good idea for future change or improvement, speak to your Deputy and ask him or her to add it to the notes. Staff gets quite a few of these each year, but they would be thrilled to get more; the more they get, the more complete Equity's understanding of member needs.

The second is just as easy: ask your SM to do it. He or she also has a notes form. Same basic idea as the Deputy form.

The third is a bit more work, but barely. Write to us, or call us. Anytime. We want to hear from you – it's how we know what the members are looking for in their contracts. It can be in relation to a specific engagement, or just a general observation or request. Questions and suggestions regarding the review and negotiation of any agreement or revision of any engagement policy may be sent to agreements@caea.com, or call us at 1-800-387-1856 (416-867-9165 in Toronto).


MEMBER:              What if I forget?
COUNCILLOR:       We'll remind you.

Equity provides advance notice of all upcoming negotiations and agreement reviews, with information on how to provide input. These go out on a regular basis by EquiFlash, and are also listed on the back page of the EQ magazine. We'll take your input any old time, but these reminders will let you know when important deadlines are approaching. In addition, the review cycle is listed on each agreement and policy itself, so check there, too.

It's your association; help us help you.

Advisory Committee Update #4

At its most recent meeting, Council struck a Diversity Committee (Kimberley Rampersad, liaison), responsible for making recommendations to Council (based on member input) on how Equity can better serve/represent its members from diverse communities. As with the other advisories, members who expressed an interest in participating in this committee will be contacted regarding involvement. 

Info for all the Council advisories is available at EQUITYONLINE.

Advisory Committee Update #3

At the May meeting, Council added an Atlantic Advisory (Robert Seale, liaison), responsible for linking up with the Atlantic membership. Mandate development for a Diversity Committee is underway, and will be complete for June. I'll post details here when that is done, and info for all the advisories is available at EQUITYONLINE. Members who expressed an interest in participating in the new advisories will be contacted regarding involvement. 

In addition, Council made some determinations on the following suggestions:

Senior Artists – Equity took part in the Senior Artist Research Project, concluding in 2010, and Council will be reviewing those results to determine how to best put them to use at the committee level. We'll be coming back to this in June.

CTA Level 2 Monitoring - Staff will be preparing a comprehensive engagement report at the end of the summer, incorporating contract data and patterns observed to that point. Council has deferred decision on a committee until that report comes in and we have more information.

At this point, Council has completed most of its work on the advisory committees for the term. As previously noted, there are a couple to be finalized in the next month or so, and some proposals are slated to come forward again in October for review. Of the remaining topics, all represented less than 1% of the submissions, and will be addressed as discussion topics throughout the term, rather than as committees.

We received over 600 submissions, on a huge range of topics, and all were very illuminating. Even those that did not result in a committee will be used to inform Council's discussions going forward, and quite a few will be of use to staff in determining topics for upcoming negotiations, and improving service. 

Council's job is to act as an informed agent of the membership, and thanks to your input, we are able to do the job that much better.